U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wants NASCAR to reject the National Rifle Association as a race sponsor. (AP Photo)

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., whose constituents continue to grieve from the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown that killed 20 children and six educators, has asked NASCAR to nix the deal.

Murphy wrote a letter to NASCAR chairman Brian France asking him not to allow the NRA to sponsor the race at Texas.

The NRA is opposed to proposed gun control legislation crafted in response to the Newtown shooting.

“By giving the NRA sponsorship of a major NASCAR race, NASCAR has crossed a line—you have decided to put yourself in the middle of a political debate, and you have taken a side that stands in opposition to the wishes of so many Newtown families who support common sense gun reform,” Murphy wrote.

“Whether or not this was your intention, your fans will infer from this sponsorship that NASCAR and the NRA are allies in the current legislative debate over gun violence.”

NASCAR officials have said that while the sanctioning body has the authority to reject sponsorship agreements made by the tracks, the NRA sponsorship “falls within the guidelines for approval for that event.”

Murphy questioned why NASCAR and France, who played integral roles in having Michael Waltrip drive a car in the Daytona 500 that encouraged fans to donate to the Sandy Hook School Support fund, would align themselves with the NRA. France himself gave $50,000 to the support fund, matching a donation of the NASCAR Foundation.

“By announcing this new partnership at the very height of Congress’s deliberations over gun reform, NASCAR has inserted itself into a political debate that has nothing to do with the business of NASCAR,” Murphy wrote. “To me, this seems an unwise break with precedent.”

Murphy also was critical of the NRA in his letter, saying it increasingly relies on funding from the firearms industry and has not played a constructive role in gun control debate and instead “pushes an extreme agenda in state capitols across our nation.”

“NASCAR has historically been careful not to insert itself, and its hard-earned good reputation, into political and legislative fights,” Murphy writes in closing. "Why then, start now? Why take sides against the families of Newtown, Connecticut, by teaming up with the NRA in the middle of an intense legislative fight over gun laws?”